


Virgil the Small Purple Emo

by NekoAbi



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: AU where love makes you grow, Angst, Attempt at GT, Brief homophobia, Happy Ending, Homelessness, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-23
Updated: 2019-12-23
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:53:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21909256
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NekoAbi/pseuds/NekoAbi
Summary: Virgil stopped growing when he was very young, leaving him at the bottom of the societal ladder. He grows cynical after being thrown out. Can a chance meeting with a kind stranger change his life?
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Morality | Patton Sanders
Comments: 5
Kudos: 75





	Virgil the Small Purple Emo

**Author's Note:**

> This is my secret santa gift for [Midnightsdarkangel/Starlightsruby](https://starlightsruby.tumblr.com/) on tumblr.
> 
> They like Mox, they like some good angst, they like a happy ending and they like GT. I tried my best to do all of these.

Virgil had always been small. In fact, he’d stopped growing at age 12, while everyone else around him grew taller and taller. Of course, that had meant he’d been ostracised by most in a world where your size equated to the amount of love you had in your life. He clearly was an unloved child and so that meant he was unworthy of anyone else’s time. All because of who he was.

His family had found out only a few days after his twelfth birthday that Virgil was gay and that was the moment where everything changed. The love stopped. His entire family disowned him, they threw him out onto the street and left him to fend for himself.

Virgil had found ways to survive, of course. He’d managed to get a poorly paying job that gave him just enough money to live on, while also allowing him to barely scrape by at school. He jumped from place to place, sleeping outside most nights. Eventually, he found a small forested area that was visited rarely, and he set up camp there. Virgil scavenged and stole from bins and dumps in order to make it comfortable. By his 21st birthday, Virgil had yet to grow even another inch and was living in a tree house of his own making.

It was haphazardly put together, but it was better than his first four other attempts that had been dismantled to make this one. It was far larger than the others, allowing him to lay flat in his beaten-up, old sleeping bag for the first time as well as giving him space to put what little he owned. It had fewer holes around as well, though Virgil sometimes did miss staring up at the stars, but he much preferred the cover it provided when it rained. But it was just a place for him to retreat to after work. It didn’t need to be the height of luxury. It served its purpose well.

The morning went like any other. He woke up early, did what little he could to make himself presentable before throwing on his uniform and clambering down the tree in order to start his long walk to work. Thankfully Virgil had been able to grab a pair of semi-working headphones from the store where he worked before they were about to be thrown out and so had something to listen to as he made his way through the town. It was familiar, it was boring, it was normal.

But the strangest thing happened while he was at work.

It started as an accident. Virgil had been stocking the lower shelves as usual and had bumped into a customer whilst turning to go back towards where his manager was. “Oh, sorry.” He mumbled, ducking his head to move on out of the way.

The customer laughed softly, “It’s alright! I’m the one who should be sorry. I was just off in my own world and didn’t see you!”

Virgil stopped in his tracks and glanced back at the man he’d walked into. He was tall, very tall… at least around two feet taller - likely even more - than himself, which wasn’t too uncommon. But he’d just talked to Virgil as if he was equal. No reference to how short he was. No annoyed huff and muttering. No threats to get him fired. Nothing. Just a normal conversational response. “Uh, well… um… it’s okay?”

The customer grinned and nodded, “How long have you been working here?”

This was completely abnormal. People usually didn’t want to talk to someone as short as him. Virgil pretended to tidy up the surrounding shelves to look busy as he replied, “Around 9 years or so…”

“No… how old are you!? That can’t be okay!”

Virgil grimaced before explaining that he had just turned 21 that morning. The customer’s face had turned from shock – as he clearly thought Virgil was younger than he was – to sadness.

“Oh, I’m sorry… I didn’t know- I thought that-”

“It’s whatever. Doesn’t matter.” Virgil waved it off. It was his life, he was used to it. This man was going to pity him for a moment, say goodbye and they’d never see each other again. A silence stretched on for what felt like minutes. Eventually, Virgil went to leave but the customer stopped him.

“…When do you get off work?”

Virgil faltered and took a moment to catch himself. “What? Um, I mean, like… around… 8?”

The customer’s eyes were blazing with hope as he reached for the employee’s hands, grasping them between his own, “I’ll meet you outside the shop then! I want to help.”

An odd feeling hit Virgil in the stomach, almost like he was stretching out his muscles for a moment. But it was gone before he could give it more than a second’s thought. This stranger was offering him help, without even knowing him. Apparently, Virgil had agreed, and the customer had gone on his way. The rest of the day was a blur and, at 8pm, he was standing with the odd man outside.

“Oh, I never introduced myself!” The stranger slapped his forehead playfully before holding out his hand, “My name’s Patton! Nice to meet you, Virgil!” He shook their hands once and then turned sharply, beginning to wander down the street, “If you’re okay with telling me, I’d love to know what happened.”

There was practically no context, but of course Virgil knew what he meant. He walked quickly to keep up with Patton’s long strides, “It’s pretty short. When I was 12, my entire family disowned me and threw me out for… reasons. And from then, well, people kinda just avoided me. You’re not exactly wanted when you’re… like me… but I guess you don’t really get that…” He didn’t mean to slight the tall man, but it just happened to come out. After years of public rejection, Virgil had grown bitter and pessimistic. He went to explain this, but Patton simply laughed.

“You’re right, I don’t know what that’s like. No one should have to know what that is like.” Patton seemed wistful as he stared down the street before them. “I’m sorry that happened to you, Virgil.”

That evening, Patton took Virgil to a restaurant close by and treated him to a meal, despite Virgil’s protests and worries. He assured the shorter that there was no expectation of returning the favour or paying him back; it was merely a way for them to sit and chat somewhere warmer as the temperature was quickly declining outside. Over food, the two talked more. Virgil found out that Patton’s life had been without much hardship, especially in the love department. He had a large family that adored him, many friends who he met up with frequently. Everything for Patton was great all while Virgil had the complete opposite. After some time, he opened up a little and told Patton how he was essentially homeless and had been since he was kicked out onto the streets. He had no friends, his co-workers and managers hated him and belittled him for his height. By the end of the meal, Patton’s eyes were swimming with tears that Virgil assumed were pity and not of sadness.

The larger man wrapped Virgil in a tight hug as he wept for him, “That’s so unfair, Virgil! You don’t deserve any of that!”

“It’s whatever. I’m used to it now.” Virgil’s face pinked slightly as he felt the urge to hug Patton in return, while also feeling extremely awkward in the unusual embrace.

“It’s official!” Patton proclaimed once they were finally out of the restaurant. His eyes were determined as he clenched his fists and set his expression, “We’re friends! I’ll come and see you whenever I can!” He quickly dropped it and softened, “Oh, right, uh, if that’s okay with you, of course.”

The shorter couldn’t help the amused snort that slipped out. He shoved his hands into his tattered hoodie’s pockets and smiled softly, “Yeah, sure… just, don’t always pay for stuff for me. It makes me feel weird… deal?”

Patton grinned widely, “Deal!”

From then on, at least a few times a month, Virgil found Patton waiting outside the store for him. They’d wander around the town chatting and just spending time with each other. Sometimes they’d get food, other times they’d find a café and just watch the world pass by. The months passed and the two got closer, meeting up more and more frequently. Virgil showed Patton his treehouse – which he hadn’t expected to cause the man to weep uncontrollably whilst he held Virgil in a spine-crushing hug. Patton, in turn, had brought Virgil back to his house several times, which just hammered home to the shorter how different life was for Patton. During this time, people were becoming noticeably nicer to him.

First, it had been customers. They’d stopped tutting and glaring at him when he was attempting to replace items on the shelves. All of them had suddenly stopped commenting on his height, as had his co-workers and managers. He’d told Patton all this, to which they both settled on the solution that Virgil must just have been looking happier or something. Neither had noticed that Virgil needed much less help reaching for things on higher shelves.

Soon enough, Virgil had to remake his treehouse once again. He’d been feeling claustrophobic in it for a while. He even enlisted Patton’s help in order to make it again. Virgil used up all of his few holiday days to complete the project, while Patton had brought all new materials for the shorter to use. He’d even asked Virgil if he’d like to move into Patton’s back garden instead of staying in the small forest.

“I mean, it’s just closer to your work and you’d be able to come and go whenever you like. A-and if you needed, you could come in and make food or warm up. I mean, it’s just an idea!” Patton had rambled, his cheeks pinkening significantly. Of course, Virgil had accepted. He wasn’t quite ready to actually move into a home – being in his treehouse made him feel safe – but he found that he was really becoming fond of being around Patton almost constantly.

It was the first time he’d spent the night in Patton’s home that everything had really caught up to them both. Several years had passed and they were officially going with the title of best friends. They’d been sitting on the couch, just watching tv and eating. It was nothing they hadn’t done before, but there was something… off. Virgil just couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

It all happened at once.

Patton had taken a sharp breath and sat up extremely straight. Virgil, in a practised motion, looked up to ask Patton what happened and found that he was looking at the ceiling. He then dropped his eye level and found that he had to angle his sight slightly downwards in order to make eye contact with Patton, who was staring up at him with an open mouth.

“What the fuck?!” Virgil screamed, looking down at himself in surprise. He felt himself panicking but did his best to keep himself calm. Sure, he’d noticed that he’d sorta been growing with Patton being his friend, but this was insane. “Patton, what just happened?!”

Patton swallowed heavily before sheepishly giggling, “Um, well… this might be… my fault?”

“Patton. If you don’t explain right this second, I’m going to freak the fuck out.” Virgil said between shaky breaths.

Patton grabbed a hold of one of Virgil’s hands, gently stroking it to calm him down. His face was beet red as he explained himself, “I just realised that… um well, that…” He took another heavy breath before blurting out, “THATIMINLOVEWITHYOU.”

Time slowed. Virgil felt something inside him metaphorically expand at Patton’s confession, almost as though it were only his heart that had grown in that moment. It had a secondary effect, as Virgil considered his own repressed feelings. He realised that he’d pushed down his emotions years ago, as he believed that they’d never be reciprocated. Virgil finally admitted to himself that he loved Patton as well.

The effect was immediate. Patton ballooned in the same way Virgil had. He was back to being far taller than Virgil, which was not exactly a great thing to happen in a building, even if Patton’s ceilings were higher than most.

Nothing had to be said after the shock had passed. Patton reached for Virgil, who slipped between the larger’s arms with ease, neither of them commenting on the fact that Patton’s hair was brushing the ceiling. As Virgil began to swell to a larger height whilst in Patton’s arms, the couple laughed.

“Looks like we’ll be needing a larger home. If you want to stay with me, of course.” Patton offered. Virgil said nothing, responding only by nuzzling deeper into Patton’s shoulder, causing the other to grew a little more in return.


End file.
